1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device using an imprint method, a template used in the imprint method, and a method of creating pattern inspection data for inspecting the template and a pattern formed by the template.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, according to the advance of microminiaturization of semiconductor devices, problems in a photolithography step used in a manufacturing process for the semiconductor devices are becoming conspicuous. Under design rules for most advanced semiconductor devices at the present, the semiconductor devices are microminiaturized to about several tens nanometers in a half pitch (hp). In lithography performed by reduced pattern transfer using light in the past, because resolution is insufficient, it is difficult to form patterns. Therefore, in recent years, a nano-imprint technology is proposed instead of such lithography.
The nano-imprint technology is a method of bringing a mold (a template) of a master, on which a pattern that should be transferred is formed in advance, into contact with an organic material applied over a processing target substrate and hardening the organic material while applying light or heat thereto to thereby transfer the pattern to an organic material layer (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-68411 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-194142).
As a method of manufacturing the template used in the nano-imprint technology, a method of forming patterns on sidewalls of core patterns and processing a template substrate using the sidewall pattern is known (see, for example, US patent application publication No. 2008/0286449).